Walk The Talk

Sermon Text: Philippians 2:12-18 [ESV]

Introduction:

When you were young, what was your parent’s constant request for you to make them happy? If you had siblings, I can almost tell you what it was in ALL of your houses when you were growing up… I know this because it was what I wanted as a parent when our children were growing up…

What I wanted most was for our children to get along with one another, and listen to and obey their mother and me. That was it… it was really simple. This is because I knew that if they could get along, there would be peace in the house and what Michelle and I wanted to get done would get done much easier if there was peace in the house. Get along with one another and listen to what we teach you and ask you to do… it was really simple!

And here in this passage Paul is painting that same picture, but this is NOT Paul’s desire for the church, this is Paul relaying God’s desire for His church. It is God’s desire that believers get along with each other so that there is peace in the house… peace in the fellowship. And it is also God’s desire that we listen to and obey His Word… and having peace in the fellowship leads to us being able to submit in obedience to Him.

The book of Philippians is describing how Paul challenged these Philippian believers to “Walk the Talk” or live out their faith in Christ so that it is readily evident in their lives! 

Today we are going to look at several more verses that play to that same sentiment and even give us teaching on how we can live out what God desires.

Let’s read Phil 2:12-18 and see what Paul is saying…

12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

There was once a little boy who was in a play at church and he forgot his lines. His mother had sat in the front row to prompt him in case this happened. When her son forgot his line he looked helplessly at her and she gestured to him and silently formed the words of his line with her lips, but it did not help.

The young man’s memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the line to him, "I am the light of the world." Instantly the little boy smiled and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mom is the light of the world!!”

Now as believers we know that JESUS is the true light of the world, but as His followers we are ALL called to let His light shine in this world so that others will see Him, and accept Him as Savior and Lord of their life. 

This is exactly what Paul was telling the believers in our passage this morning, and in the first 2 verses of our passage, Paul gives a gentle warning to these believers to be the light God has called them to be…

Paul’s Cautions the Philippian Believers (v.12-13)

12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

In v.12 we find Paul actually giving the Philippian church a complement in that they were Christian in their living, no matter who was present. They have ‘always obeyed’ meaning obeyed God’s commandments and God’s calling in their lives! They were faithful in that obedience and it was something they held fast to and did not waiver in…

There are many believers today, who LIVE OUT THEIR FAITH in public and when others are around, but when they are alone or when they are in a place where they are not known, their faith takes a back seat. The one thing we must realize about living for Christ is that it is a 24/7 thing, we cannot live FOR Christ one moment and then the next put Him on the shelf… The Christian life requires a full time commitment and these believers had it and Paul recognized that commitment in their lifestyle!

Then Paul utters a statement that many have taken out of context and tried to tie it to the believers salvation experience. Paul says, ‘work out your salvation with fear and trembling…’ which many have taken to mean that we are the ones who can affect salvation and we are the ones who are in control of retaining that salvation…

First we have to understand that Paul would have NEVER preached such heresy. Paul’s statement would have never gone against the Gospel and the words of Jesus… I want us to ALL understand what Paul WAS saying, but first I want us to all understand what Paul was NOT saying! 

He was NOT saying that we could work to earn our salvation… and Paul was NOT saying that we could work to RETAIN our salvation! That goes against every teaching in Scripture that teaches us about receiving Christ as our Savior!

What Paul WAS saying here was directed to those who were already saved. This letter was written to the church in Philippi and Paul was speaking to who he believed were maturing believers and followers of Jesus Christ… so we can know from elimination that Paul was NOT saying that these people could actually work to gain their salvation!

Second, we can know that Paul was not speaking about retaining salvation… many interpret the ‘…in fear and trembling…’ part of this verse to mean we need to fear falling away from God, but that is NOT what Paul is saying.

What Paul IS trying to say to these believers is that it is UP to them to LIVE OUT THEIR FAITH! 

They must make the voluntary choice to obey God! They must make the voluntary choice to follow God’s calling! It is NOT going to happen on its own! Paul is telling them that LIVING OUT YOUR FAITH has to be YOUR choice and has to be put into action by YOUR decisions!

But we are human so how can we do this? Paul has just detailed how Christ was fully human in His service to God, but understands that NONE of us are Jesus and we cannot ever think we could do what He did, but because of God’s Holy Spirit that indwells each believer, it can be done! Look at v.13 with me… [show v.13 here]

In these 2 verses we find Paul gently cautioning these believers to live their faith out loud and to be a shining example of Jesus to the world around them.

He challenged them to be this shining example at ALL times and NOT just when someone was around to watch, but even when NO one was watching. He challenged them to live out their faith… but to do so in full submission to God and fully understanding God’s role in them living out their life for God. God is our power source and the rock we anchor our souls to… without Him we could NOT live out our faith!

Paul understood that living out our faith could cause problems if it was not accomplished thru allowing God to shine thru us, and so Paul takes time to reveal to these believers one negative example and one very good example of how one lives out their faith…

Paul’s Continuing Instruction on Christlike Living (v.14-16)

14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

v.14 is very short and very much TO THE POINT! Paul knows the human condition and human nature! What Paul is saying here is that if you are to live out your faith so that the world can see it, and others come to know Jesus Christ thru your example… then DON’T GO THERE!

Grumbling, complaining and questioning the authority of those whom God has placed over you will bring about nothing more than division and strife within the body and this will reveal itself to the world around you and will not be the example they need to see…

Now I want you to fully understand that Paul is NOT saying that you blindly follow or blindly obey the leaders placed above them, but what he is saying is that if you disagree, and we will always have disagreement in our walk because we are all different and see things from different perspectives… if we disagree we are not to do it in a public manner or in such a way that it disrupts the unity of the body.

The word Paul uses for ‘grumbling’ here is the Greek word Gongoosmon which is a secret complaining… an in the shadows type of bickering that causes dissention and distrust and cast doubt on the unity of the fellowship and from the outside, casts a bad light on the church itself.

There is NOTHING more damaging to the fellowship of a church than a disgruntled and complaining member or members… whether that grumbling is done in secret or in open rebellion… This type of behavior and attitude establishes an ‘us against them’ mentality and destroys any unity that does exist.

This is totally the opposite of what Jesus prayed for the church… we are meant to be UNIFIED under the banner of Christ and any grumbling and complaining is leads to discord which in turn leads to a damaged witness. So what Paul is telling the Philippian believers here in this verse is … DON’T GO THERE!

In v.15 Paul explains WHY they don’t need to ‘go there’ and it is to keep them pure and blameless. Now Paul uses v.15 to share with his readers that when they are grumbling and complaining… they cannot be the light to the world that Christ has called them to be… so they are to NOT grumble!

And this goes for us today, just as importantly as it did for the believers in Philippi… we can disagree with each other, but it needs to be done in a loving and Christ-like manner where we are not grumbling or complaining in a manner that destroys the fellowship of the church. What Paul is saying here is that this only breeds discontent and discord in the body and that is a definite breakdown of what Christ desires the church to be…

But Paul does not only focus here on the negative… he also gives them a positive action that they can perform that will enable them to LIVE OUT LOUD their faith in Christ! Paul tells them in v.16 [read v.16 here]

16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Paul wants the believers to be the light of Christ in the world they are living in by living OUT their faith… first he tells them what NOT to do, but in v.16 he gives them a specific instruction on what they ARE to do… and that is “…hold fast to the word of life...” which is a reference to the word of God… which is an indirect reference to Christ Himself!

David wrote in Ps 119:110

11I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

David understood that holding fast to the word of life would lead him down the right path and that he would find success in his walk with God if he would hold fast to God’s Word. Here Paul is encouraging these believers to do the same… and this should be encouragement to ALL of us here this morning to do just that as well…

Hold fast to the word of life so that you can LIVE OUT LOUD that faith you profess in Christ! Hold fast to the word of life so that when you are living your life out loud, you will have a solid foundation from which to live it… Stay in tune with God by staying IN His word… by holding fast to His word!

So Paul cautions these believers to remain faithful and to be intentional in their actions that reveal their Christian life… to Walk their Talk! To live their lives in such a manner that there can be absolutely NO doubt in about who they serve! Paul also cautions them that this can only be done by leaning on and trusting in Jesus as He is our source of strength and power in living out our faith.

But Paul also continued his instruction by warning them about a particular action that can destroy the unity and witness of the church, and that is a grumbling and complaining attitude and spirit… Paul tells them not to go that route!

But finally in this passage Paul commends the Philippian believers for their great faith…

Paul Commends the Philippian Believer’s Faith (v.17-18)

17Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Paul knew his outcome may not be what he wanted it to be and that he may NOT ever get out of prison but could eventually face death. But Paul wanted the believers in Philippi to know that he saw their tremendous faith!

You see here was the man who had started their church… he was mocked by fellow preachers, he was imprisoned by the religious leaders of the day and he was ridiculed by the Roman way of life…as we saw in Athens in Paul’s Mars Hill sermon where they scoffed at his faith in God and the coming resurrection…

Paul knew that this news had to be disconcerting to them, but Paul had seen time and time again where this fellowship had ministered to him and had grown in their faith even through all the troubles that Satan had cast their way! He was impressed by their spiritual maturity and ever growing faith…

Paul told them even IF I am poured out as a drink offering… even IF I do see death from this prison cell I know that YOU will go on… I know that God is working in you in a mighty way! And Paul went on to say, don’t worry about me… don’t fret over my potential demise… but rejoice with me in that we have seen the kingdom grow through all of this…

The message Paul was getting across to these believers was that God was in control, and even though things may look bleak, and even though you may NOT see a way out… God is in control and when you have faith in Him and place your faith in Him and ACTIVELY live your life for Him… there is call for nothing other than rejoicing because God will honor those who honor Him!

Conclusion:

If we are going to honor God we must first be intentional about living FOR Him! If we are going to WALK the TALK as Paul is challenging us to do, we have to make up in our minds and begin to make decisions that lead us down a path of righteous living… we have to make the decision to NOT be a stumbling block to the unity of the church and we have to make the decision to hold fast to God’s word, and God is going to provide the blessing!

Today life may be covering some of you up… you may feel as if you are drowning in your despair and problems… and in your trials and troubles! I am here to tell you that Paul understands where you are… He was there too! But how did he handle these trials? He placed himself in God’s hand and lived his faith out loud in spite of his situation and God honored him and blessed his work!

Today I challenge you to do the same thing… if the world is raining down trouble on your head, do what Paul said to do… dig in, make the choice to serve Jesus, and begin to live out your faith in spite of what the world is throwing your way… hold fast to God’s word and don’t poison the well by grumbling or complaining and God is going to bless you!

His blessings will come in HIS timing and will be HIS blessings… but He will lift you up, but you have to make that decision to live out your faith! Are you willing to do that today?

Close Encounters # 2

"HOW INTENTIONAL ARE YOU?"

Luke 6:46-49

1. Introduction

Things do not just happen. Ask Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton  running for President. They do not get votes just by placing their names on the ballots for the Presidency. They have to work hard, very hard, spend money, lots of money, and energy, lots of energy, to get every vote they have.

Some people did actually just put their names on the ballot for President, names you probably never heard of. I had never heard of them until the day after Election Day.

Monica Moorehead, of the Workers World Party, got 4,304 votes. Denny Lane, of the Grass Roots Party, got 879 votes in this presidential race. Earl F. Dodge, of the Prohibition Party, got 205 votes for President of the United States. And a man named Jim Wright got 23 votes. It must've been just his family and friends whom voted for him.

In fact, besides the two major party nominees: Democratic and Republican Parties, there were another 114 parties, like the Earth Federation, The Freedom Party, Marijuana Reform Party, most of them very tiny, that had people on the ballot this election.

But you don't hear about them because they are too small, in pockets here and there, or just recently formed, or also because they were not as intentional in getting organized and getting noticed as the major parties did.

It is people who are intentional who make things happen. And in life it is when we are intentional that we make things happen. The same thing is true in our spiritual lives. If we don't put in the effort, not many good things will happen. Today's message is about making our spiritual growth an intentional thing in our life.

Let's turn to Luke 6:46-49, as we continue our series on Encounters Jesus Had with people. 

II. We Slide because We Default

This is a familiar passage, part of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount.

But because we are familiar with it, we may read it casually and miss some major ideas.

Jesus is addressing people who are his disciples. In. this chapter, vs. 20, Luke tells us that Jesus looked at his disciples and he spoke to them these words.

But Jesus needed to tell his disciples, those who have followed him, that they have to pay attention to some spiritual issues, even though they follow him. No disciple is perfect. Disciples are not just people who made a one-time commitment to Jesus; disciples carry out a life-long process of applying that commitment.

And that's what some Christian writers are saying, that the problem in America, where 40% of the people say they are evangelical Christians, (and 90% say they believe in God,) is not in making commitment - many people have made that commitment - the problem is in applying the commitment to daily life situations (Chap Clark, Youthworker, Nov./Dec. 2000, 42-43).

The Sermon on the Mount is a message about applying our commitment to Christ.

Jesus said that his disciples could call him, "Lord, Lord," and yet do not do what he says.

Disciples can have made a public statement that Christ is their Lord at one time, but in their life they are not doing what Christ has commanded them to do. There is a discrepancy between their words and their lives. These two do not match up.

It's like spouses who have made a vow to love one another and care for one another at one time at their wedding ceremony, yet after they are married, they fight and yell and are not very loving to one another. The problem is not that they didn't make the commitment to each other, the problem is in applying the commitment to their daily life.

That is the kind of thing that Jesus is addressing to his disciples' relationship to himself.

The disciples vowed at one point to make Christ their Lord, yet now they do not love him and are not doing the things that please him.

What does this mean? How does this happen?

The answer is that they have forgotten how to love Christ intentionally.

They are like the builder who did not pay attention to the foundation.

Yes, they are building a house, both men in this parable are building a house, but one pays attention to the foundation and other does not.

What is the foundation?

The foundation is the substructure of our life. The foundation is the support base for our visible daily life. The foundation is invisible, underneath our life, but which provides the strength for our visible life.

I have not had to lay a foundation for a house. The closest I have come to that is working on the sub floors in our townhouse hallway to replace old wood tiles with vinyl tiles.

Not knowing a lot about sub floors, but wanting to do it by myself, I lifted the old wood up and saw that the sub floor was somewhat warped. I tried to sand it as much as I could, but I didn't want to have to lift up the whole sub floor and place a new one down.

Guess what? After sanding it down as much as I could, I started to put the vinyl tiles down, and it looked fine. But a few weeks later, the tiles started to crack a little bit.

What had happened was that under the pressure of being walked on, and since the sub floor was not a clean, flat one, the tiles were not resting on a perfectly flat surface and they started to bend and eventually crack. I had to replace some of the vinyl tiles as a result.

I tell this story not to tell you how to do your sub floor, although you might learn something from my experience. My point in telling you this is to give an example to you that if the foundation is not carefully and intentionally done right, forget about whatever you put on top because it will crack sooner or later.

But the foundation in this parable is obedience; the foundation is doing the things that Jesus commanded.

There is one person who hears the words of Christ, but he does not pay attention to it, he ignores it, puts it aside, throws it away, thinks he can go back to it later, but he never does.

In other words, he was not intentional in putting the commands of Christ into practice and therefore his foundation is shallow or non-existent.

How does a person have a strong foundation?

There are three things he must do.

1. He must dig down deep. This is what the other man in this story did. The first thing he did was to dig down into the soil, and dig down deep. He might have to dig for a whole day, or two days, five feet down or ten feet down, but he kept digging. And what was he looking for?

2. The second thing he did was to find the rock.

He was looking for rocks. This is the second thing the man did. He was digging so that he could find rocks. Because it would be on the rocks, and not on the soil or dirt that he would build his house.

3. The third thing he did was to lay down the foundation.

And once the man found the rocks and could dig no deeper, then he could lay down stones or smaller rocks on top of it and fill up the hole he had dug, but now he knows the house will be on a solid foundation.

Notice that there is nothing accidental about this. 

The man was intentional in everything he did. He deliberately dug down, persisted, even though he was tired. He kept going until he hit the rocks, and then he began to fill it up.

This is the picture of a man who also builds his spiritual life. This person is not aimless or hoping that somehow he would grow spiritual by drifting along.

Instead, the person who wants to build up his spiritual life also is very deliberate and intentional in working at it.

That work is called obedience, in spiritual terms.

Obedience is taking the commands of Christ and carrying them out. It is the digging down and the finding rocks and filling it up.

It is obedience to Christ's command to prayer, even though we may not feel like praying. 

It is obedience to Christ's command to read and digest the scriptures. 

It is obedience to giving ourselves to God in worship and listening to him. 

It is obedience in serving others who are in need, whether physically or spiritually in need.

These are some of the things that we need to intentionally do in obedience so that we can grow.

How do we measure ourselves to that intentional process?

Do we pray? How often, how deep? Do we read God's word? How much and how deep? Do we worship? How sincere and how deeply?

It is obeying the commands of Christ that builds us up spiritually. This is the only way to do it. There is no other way.

The person who does not obey Christ on these things is like the man who builds without digging deep. He or she hears the words, and they put it aside, ignore it, thinks they will get around to it later, and they never do.

They are building their house on sand.

I have seen a house built on sand. When I go to the beach, I see kids and adults build sandcastles. They may be very beautiful and intricate, take many hours to build. Yet…

At the end of the day when the tide washes up the beach, the sandcastles gets washed away. Or if not the tide, if there were rain or wind blowing, it would also destroy the sandcastles.

I have also seen buildings with deep foundations. On many of our cities, there is one right now in Rockville, when they are building a tall building, they board up the sidewalks, and they start digging. Some of the holes may go 100 feet down.

Why so deep? So that the building will be able to rise up. And the taller the building, the deeper must be the digging.

How deep do you want to go in your spiritual life?

Do you want to remain on the surface and try to build up as much as you can?

It won't work. If we do not practice what Christ has commanded, we are building on sand. For a while, everything may look all right on the outside, but as soon as we encounter a trial or crisis in our life, we don't have the spiritual resources to deal with it.

That trial can be having a child. That trial can be a promotion. That trial can be an illness. That trial can be a marriage. That trial can be anything, good or bad.

Many people think that crisis is only something negative, but that is not true. This is something we've learned in Stephen Ministry, crises are not only bad things; good things can bring a crisis into our life. The torrent that struck the house is simply water coming down a hill.

Having a strong foundation not only enables us to deal with negative things in life, but also positive things in life. 

The person who is going bankrupt and the person who gets a huge inheritance are both facing a crisis. How they deal with the crisis depends on what they have been doing before the crisis.

If the person has been taking steps to obey God, not perfectly, but nevertheless making the effort to obey God on a regular and consistent basis, then the crisis will not be as difficult to deal with.

If the person has not been taking steps to obey God, consistently ignoring the commands of Christ, then when the crisis comes, it will be very difficult to deal with.

The way we handle crisis is determined by what we do before the crisis comes.

How confident are you that you can deal with a good or a bad crisis.

The best way to deal with it is to take care of spiritual business right now.

And for disciples of Christ, we not only should cry out "Lord, Lord," but we should also do what he says.

What is it we need to as Christ's disciples: Be intentional in doing what Christ has commanded.

Think of doing one thing that you know Christ wants you to do. Start with that, keep at it. Don't give it up. Then you will be digging for a stronger foundation in your life.